“'DJ' said I wasn’t legit, so I’m picking Moraes” - Danielle Kelly gives a light-hearted pick for ONE on Prime Video 1 main event
Submission grappling superstar Danielle Kelly made her debut in the circle at the promotion’s 10th-anniversary event ONE X in March. In her debut, she faced women’s Japanese MMA icon Mei Yamaguchi. While Kelly was unable to secure a finish before the 12-minute time limit expired, the American was dominant throughout the contest and was rewarded with a $50,000 bonus for her performance.
Ready for the highly anticipated main event for ONE on Prime Video 1, Kelly sat down with the promotion to give her prediction for the rematch between ONE flyweight world champion Adriano Moraes and flyweight mega-star Demetrious Johnson.
“I originally was picking 'DJ' to win because I know how it feels to come from a tough loss and it fuels him to do better. However, I like Adriano’s style, and in their first bout, he was dominating. I think he also fixed mistakes in the fight. [Adriano also] has the size and reach advantage. I think that was a big takeaway in their [first] fight and will be for this fight. Also, 'DJ' said I wasn’t legit, so I’m picking Moraes!”
Unfortunately, we haven't seen Danielle Kelly back in the circle as of yet, but the young photogenic grappler has been plenty busy trading verbal jabs with ONE women’s atomweight world champion, ‘Unstoppable’ Angela Lee.
Danielle Kelly will have to wait for her opportunity to face Angela Lee
The rivalry between Danielle Kelly and Angela Lee seemed to go off the rails at the ONE Championship x Amazon Prime press conference in Los Angeles. Both women were part of the all-star panel of ONE Championship superstars. When Danielle Kelly was asked about the possibility of facing Lee in a submission grappling contest, Kelly was mostly dismissive, saying that she would rather focus on “legit grapplers.”
Angela Lee quickly snapped back, challenging the submission grappling star to put on a pair of four-ounce gloves if she wants to meet inside the circle.
While it looks as though Kelly and Lee are on a collision course of some kind, that momentum has been halted with the reveal that Angela Lee will return to ONE on Prime Video 2 to take on ONE women’s strawweight world champion Xiong Jing Nan in a long-awaited trilogy bout.
With the animosity established between the two, a tussle at some point down the line is likely. For now, Danielle Kelly will just have to settle for the so-called “legit grapplers” she referenced in Los Angeles.